Democratizing Internet Access: 2022 Marconi Prize Awarded to Wireless Innovator Siavash Alamouti

CLEVELAND, Feb. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Marconi Society is proud to award the 2022 Marconi Prize, the top honor in communications technology, to Siavash Alamouti in recognition of his impact on the accessibility of wireless devices. The serial innovator, whose famous Alamouti Code can be found in billions of devices, has devoted his career to developing wireless technology that improves people's lives.

"Siavash has brought connectivity to billions of people by making wireless devices more efficient and affordable without reducing reception quality," says Vint Cerf, Chair of the Marconi Society and 1998 Marconi Fellow. "Throughout his career, he has been a vital advocate for technology as a democratizing force in the world."

Alamouti designed his Code in 1996, refining past efforts to improve mobile signal reception without significantly increasing device costs. His solution, mathematically proven to optimize reception, adds transmitters to cell base stations or access points rather than adding them to each device. This code is now part of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, an essential component of contemporary wireless standards.

Throughout his career at major technology companies, including AT&T, Intel, and Vodafone, Alamouti remained passionate about open wireless standards and technology that prioritizes the end user. His leadership on open wireless standards can be seen in current standards adopted by the IEEE that continue to govern the Internet.

More recently, Alamouti has become an outspoken advocate for the decentralization of the cloud and data sovereignty. As co-founder and executive chairman of mimik, he has helped create and commercially deploy the industry's first hybrid edge cloud platform that allows consumers to control how their data is stored, shared, and monetized. He worked for Wells Fargo bank as Executive Vice President of Research & Development, focusing on the development of a data custodian platform for consumers and enterprises, and recently left the bank to start his own company to accelerate this mission.

"We have made great strides towards digital inclusion globally by connecting people through the Internet, but we have a long way to go before we can claim success," says Alamouti. "We need to create a sustainable business model to make Internet access affordable to every citizen of the world, but more importantly provide them control of their data, and create disruptive new business models that disincentivize the spread of misinformation, ignorance, and superstitions. This will bring people together, provide opportunities to close the growing wealth gap, and ensure a sustainable future for all.

"I'm incredibly honored to become a Marconi Fellow and work with an organization that has dedicated itself to digital inclusion. I could never have imagined that one day I would share this honor with other Marconi Fellows, world-renowned luminaries whom I have looked up to throughout my career."

Born in Iran, Alamouti began his undergraduate studies at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran but left the country following the Islamic Cultural Revolution of 1979. The new government had expelled him from the University and labeled him an apostate due to his progressive secular views. Alamouti escaped to Spain and eventually became a political refugee in Canada in 1984, where he studied electrical engineering at the University of British Columbia. Now a citizen of Canada and the United States, he credits his challenging young adulthood with the philosophy that continues to shape his career: do the right thing, all the time.

"It's an honor to celebrate Siavash's astounding career with the 2022 Marconi Prize," says Samantha Schartman-Cycyk, the organization's Executive Director. "His integrity, vision for the role of technology in society, and leadership at the forefront of communications earn him a place among the founders of our connected world."

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SOURCE The Marconi Society